Determined to be Useless…

special guest blog by McLain, one of the young women I disciple

Mary Kay Party

One of my five roommates hosted a Mary Kay party on Wednesday night. I spent the whole day exhausted, and by evening, I was spent. I decided to take a nap in the basement to avoid the hoard of girls gathered upstairs. In the dark, stuffy room, I tossed and turned for about an hour before I couldn’t stand the noise of all the girls upstairs. I decided to go upstairs, try to get in the shower, and go to sleep without having to interact with anyone.

Just as I was ascending the stairs, six more girls bustled into the house. There was no avoiding it now—I had to face the party. Not hiding my scowls, I declined a free facial, and tried to hide in the kitchen. I was determined to be useless. Because I didn’t want to have a good time, I decided that no one else could. Every time someone asked me to do something, they got a half-hearted response. I didn’t go out of my way to engage the new girls, which should have been my focus, and even had a hard time interacting with my best friends.

After some more sulking, some girls asked if they could have a tour of the rest of the house. I decided that this would be easy enough, so I began leading a large group of international students into my room. Their excitement of being in a “true American woman’s room” was overwhelming. They were engrossed in my earrings, clothes, books, and decorations—from the biggest mirror, down to the smallest knick-knack. Their joyful mood started to touch my heart, and I decided it wouldn’t be that much of an imposition to get to know them more. To establish common ground, I showed them my glass Japanese fishing weights, and the girls erupted with delight. I was amazed at how much reaching out just a little bit would be affect them, and even affect myself.

As the tour continued into Brandy’s room, I started to forget my determination to be useless. I showed the international girls the scripture and worship lyrics on Brandy’s wall, and explained a few passages. They were particularly interested with one that read, “It is well.” I explained that it is a popular worship song, and what it meant. One of the girls had actually heard it in her home country!

Encouraged by their interest in God, I remembered that I had a Korean/English bible. Before I could even enter the room again with the bible, Korean girls, ecstatic to see their own language in a foreign country, swarmed me. The Word passed between eager hands and hungry eyes. Many even wrote down the brand so that they could look into getting one for themselves. One girl asked, to my surprise, “Where is John?” I flipped to that book, while she explained that she liked some paragraphs from John, but couldn’t remember which ones. I got the butterflies just thinking about that the Lord has been calling each of these girls to himself for their whole lives, and he let me be a small part in that narrative! How exciting!

Again, the tour continued. While the girls loved every room in the house, they were particularly taken with Jordan’s room. “This is my dream room,” they sighed. Everything from her hand crocheted blanket on her bed, to the fairy lights hanging on her wall were captivating to them. One girl zeroed in on Jordan’s display on the song “Good Good Father,” and wanted to know where it was from and what it meant. As I began to explain the lyrics, I could feel the Spirit move in me, and prompt me to explain deeper and get real with them.

Sharing with the girls got cut short by beautiful piano music. After a few performances on our keyboard, I asked Hannah Garza if she would mind playing “It is Well” and “Good Good Father” for us. It only took a few seconds for girls to join in worshiping the Lord. The international students had never seen anything like this before—Christians truly worshipping. Behind all of the beautiful singing were constant camera clicks. They found this captivating! It was surreal to me, watching all of the girls in worship of our God, because just an hour before, I was determined to be useless. But God works despite of us, and our attitudes; His will is stronger than that. He was determined to make me useful.

Discipleship is an art. Guidelines are quite beneficial, but each person's journey of discipleship is unique. Join me, and guest bloggers, as we explore the art of discipleship, from the basics to the deep, plus a few tidbits of life along the way.